Data processing transactions using machine to machine (M2M) data transfer

ABSTRACT

A user device is provided. The user device is configured to detect that a user is in a foreign region outside a home region of the user, wherein the user is registered with a home processor located within the home region of the user. The user device provides a recommendation to the user of one or more partner processors located within the foreign region, wherein each of the one or more partner processors has a predetermined association with the home processor. The user device receives a selection of a partner processor selected by the user from the one or more partner processors. The user device authenticates a data processing transaction at the selected partner processor by verifying an identity of the user and initiates the data processing transaction at the selected partner processor after the authentication.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to data processing, and morespecifically to data processing transactions using machine to machine(M2M) data transfer.

BACKGROUND

A computing infrastructure including one or more data servers or dataprocessors connected to a network, such as the internet, often allowsusers that are registered with the computing infrastructure to accessdata and process data transactions within the computing infrastructure.For example, the user may have an account with a home computinginfrastructure located within a home region (e.g., home city, state orcountry) of the user that allows the user to use data processingservices provided by the home computing infrastructure. When the usertravels away from the home region of the user to a foreign region (e.g.,foreign city, state or country), the user may desire access to the sameor similar data processing services provided by the home computinginfrastructure based on the user's account with the home computinginfrastructure. However, the home computing infrastructure may not havea data server within the foreign region. The user may access the same orsimilar services provided by the home computing infrastructure using aforeign computing infrastructure which has one or more data serverswithin the foreign region. However, the foreign computing infrastructuremay not be compatible with the home computing infrastructure, and thus,may need to use an intermediary data service to communicate with thehome computing infrastructure. As a result, communication between thehome infrastructure and the foreign infrastructure is complicated andinefficient. Further, additional costs are associated with using theintermediary data service and the foreign infrastructure which arepassed on to the user.

SUMMARY

The system and methods implemented by the system as disclosed in thepresent disclosure provide technical solutions to the technical problemsdiscussed above by automatically determining partner processors in aforeign region that can provide access to data processing servicesprovided by a home processor and further by coordinating data processingtransactions for the user between the home processor and a partnerprocessor. The disclosed system and methods provide several practicalapplications and technical advantages. For example, the disclosed systemprovides the practical application of providing access to a user locatedwithin a foreign region to data processing transactions of a homeprocessor located in a home region, using a partner processor in aforeign region without using an intermediary service. The partnerprocessor has a pre-determined association with the home processor. Forexample, the predetermined association comprises a pre-authorized secureconnection that can be established between the home processor and thepartner processors such that data transfer may occur seamlessly betweenhome processors and partner processors without need of an intermediaryservice. Thus, the association between the home processor and thepartner processor allows the partner processor to provide one or moredata processing services otherwise provided by a home processor to userswithin the foreign region without using an intermediary service and atreasonable costs to the user.

The disclosed system provides an additional practical application ofproviding a highly efficient method for providing access to a userlocated within a foreign region to data processing transactions of ahome processor located in a home region, using a partner processor in aforeign region, by automatically searching and determining one or morepartner processors in the foreign region, authenticating a requesteddata processing transaction and transferring data required forprocessing the requested data processing transaction from the homeprocessor to a selected partner processor using machine to machine (M2M)data transfer between a user device of the user, the home processor andthe selected partner processor with little to no human intervention.Using M2M data transfer to provide the data processing services to auser significantly improves the overall processing efficiency of thesystem.

The disclosed system and methods further improve processing performanceof the home processor and the partner processor, as well as the networkperformance of the underlying network connecting the home processor withthe partner processor. For example, the home processor selects thosepartner processors for communicating with the home processor that canestablish secure and stable connections with the home processor. Thehome processor pre-authorizes partner processors that can establishsecure and stable connections with the home processor and usespre-authorized partner processors for communication with the homeprocessor. Using pre-authorized partner processors for communicationwith the home processor can reduce processing burden on the homeprocessor and partner processors, and further save network bandwidthused for signaling between the processors, which would otherwise benecessary to determine whether secure and stable connection can beestablished between the home processor and unauthorized servers. Thereduced processing burden and saving of network bandwidth improvesperformance of the home processor and partner processors, and of theunderlying network connecting the home processor with the partnerprocessor.

In one or more embodiments, a user device is configured to detect that auser is in a foreign region outside a home region of the user, whereinthe user is registered with a home processor located within the homeregion of the user. The user device provides a recommendation to theuser of one or more partner processors located within the foreignregion, wherein each of the one or more partner processors has apredetermined association with the home processor. The predeterminedassociation comprises a pre-authorized secure connection that can beestablished between the home processor and each of the one or morepartner processors. The user device receives a selection of a partnerprocessor selected by the user from the one or more partner processorsand authenticates a data processing transaction at the selected partnerprocessor by verifying an identity of the user. The user deviceinitiates the data processing transaction at the selected partnerprocessor after the authentication.

In one or more embodiments, a home processor is configured to receive aquery from a user device of a user requesting information relating toone or more partner processors located within a foreign region outside ahome region of the user, wherein the user is registered with the homeprocessor located within the home region of the user. The home processorsearches a list of partner processors for the one or more partnerprocessors located within the foreign region, wherein each of the one ormore partner processors has a predetermined association with the homeprocessor and transmits to the user device the information relating toone or more partner processors determined as a result of the search. Thepredetermined association comprises a pre-authorized secure connectionthat can be established between the home processor and each of the oneor more partner processors. The home processor receives a request toauthenticate the data processing transaction at a selected partnerprocessor selected from the one or more partner processors, verifies anidentity of the user based on the request and transmits an indication ofsuccessful authentication of the data processing transaction to one ormore of the user device and the selected partner processor. The homeprocessor receives information relating to the data processingtransaction and transmits, based on the information relating to the dataprocessing transaction, at least a portion of data relating to theregistration of the user at the home processor to the selected partnerprocessor, wherein the data processing transaction is processed by thepartner processor based on the transferred data.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure may include some, all, or noneof these advantages. These advantages and other features will be moreclearly understood from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is nowmade to the following brief description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like referencenumerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example data processing system, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method for managing a dataprocessing transaction using a user device, in accordance with certainembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method for supporting a dataprocessing transaction at a partner processor, in accordance withcertain embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example schematic diagram of the user deviceillustrated in FIG. 1 , in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

System Overview

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example data processing system 100,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 1 , data processing system 100 may include a homecomputing infrastructure 110, a partner computing infrastructure 130 anda user device 150, each connected to a network 170. The network 170, ingeneral, may be a wide area network (WAN), a personal area network(PAN), a cellular network, or any other technology that allows devicesto communicate electronically with other devices. In one or moreembodiments, the network 170 may be the Internet.

The home computing infrastructure 110 may include one or more homeprocessors (shown as 112 a-112 d). Similarly, partner computinginfrastructure 130 may include one or more partner processors (shown as132 a-132 d). Each of the home processors 112 a-112 d of the homecomputing infrastructure 110 may be configured to provide one or moredata processing services to users located within a home region. Userslocated within the home region may access one or more data processingservices provided by the home processors 112 a-112 d using a user device150 such as a wearable computing device (e.g., a smart watch), aportable computing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer etc.), alaptop computer, a desktop computer or the like. One or more of the homeprocessors 112 a-112 d may be located within the home region. In somecases, one or more of the home processors 112 a-112 d may be locatedoutside the home region but may provide one or more data processingservices to users located within the home region.

Similarly, each of the partner processors 132 a-132 d of the partnercomputing infrastructure 130 may be configured to provide one or moredata processing services to users located within a foreign region thatis outside of the home region. Users located within the foreign regionmay access one or more data processing services provided by the partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d using a user device 150. One or more of thepartner processors 132 a-132 d may be located within the foreign region.In some cases, one or more of the partner processors 132 a-132 d may belocated outside the foreign region but may provide one or more dataprocessing services to users located within the foreign region.

The data processing services provided by the home processors 112 a-112 dand the partner processors 132 a-132 d may include, but are not limitedto, data cloud storage services, software hosting services, mediastreaming services and banking services.

In one or more embodiments, each of the home processors 112 a-112 d,partner processors 132 a-132 d and user device 150 may be implemented bya computing device running one or more software applications. Forexample, one or more of the home processors 112 a-112 d, partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d and user device 150 may be representative of acomputing system hosting software applications that may be installed andrun locally or may be used to access software applications running on aserver (not shown). The computing system may include mobile computingsystems including smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, orany other mobile computing devices or systems capable of runningsoftware applications and communicating with other devices. Thecomputing system may also include non-mobile computing devices such asdesktop computers or other non-mobile computing devices capable ofrunning software applications and communicating with other devices. Incertain embodiments, one or more of the home processors 112 a-112 d,partner processors 132 a-132 d and user device 150 may be representativeof a server running one or more software applications to implementrespective functionality as described below. In certain embodiments, oneor more of the home processors 112 a-112 d, partner processors 132 a-132d and user device 150 may run a thin client software application wherethe processing is directed by the thin client but largely performed by acentral entity such as a server (not shown).

In one or more embodiments, the home region of a user may berepresentative of a city, state, country, or any other designated regionwithin which a user generally maintains a place of residence and spendsmost days in a calendar year. On the other hand, the foreign region maybe representative of a city, state, country or any other designatedregion that is outside of the home region of the user. For example, theforeign region may be a city, state or country the user may visittemporarily, for example, for business or pleasure.

Each of the home computing infrastructure 110 and the partner computinginfrastructure 130 may be owned and implemented by an enterpriseincluding, but not limited to, a software hosting service provider, amedia streaming service provider, a cloud services provider, a retailcorporation, and a banking corporation.

A user may be registered with the home computing infrastructure 110 orone or more home processors 112 a-112 d. For example, the user may havea user account 116 with a home processor that allows the user to usecertain data processing services provided by the home processordepending on the nature of the user account 116. In one example usecase, home computing infrastructure 110 may be implemented by a softwarehosting service provider where each home processor (112 a-112 d)provides access to one or more software to registered users. The levelof access of a user may be determined by a subscription level of theuser account 116. For example, a higher monthly subscription may providethe user access to a higher number of software, types of software and/orfor longer lengths of time at the home processor. In another example usecase, home computing infrastructure 110 may be implemented by a clouddata service provider where each home processor (112 a-112 d) storesuser data and provides access to the stored user data. Again, the usermay need to have a user account 116 with the cloud data service providerto use the cloud data services.

The user account 116 may be associated with user data 118. User data 118may include, but is not limited to, personal information related to theuser (e.g., user name, social security number), user identification dataincluding ID card number, driving license number, user biometrics data(e.g., fingerprints, face recognition pattern etc.), and informationrelated to the user account 116 including account number and level ofaccess. User data 118 may further include a user credit value associatedwith the user account 116. The user credit value may represent a creditbalance associated with the user account 116. A user may buy usercredits and may use the credit balance associated the user account 116to buy data processing services provided by a home processor (112 a-112d).

Similarly, a user may be registered with the partner computinginfrastructure 130 or one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d. Forexample, the user may have a user account (e.g., similar to user account116) with a partner processor that allows the registered user to usecertain data processing services provided by the partner processordepending on the nature of the user account.

The partner computing infrastructure 130 or one or more partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d may have a pre-determined association with thehome computing infrastructure 110 or one or more home processors 112a-112 d. For example, the pre-determined association between a homeprocessor 112 a and a partner processor 132 a may include apre-authorized secure connection that can be established or is alreadyestablished between the home processor 112 a and the partner processor132 a. A home processor 112 a pre-authorizes those partner processors132 a-132 d that can successfully establish a secure connection with thehome processor 112 a and thereafter communicates with pre-authorizedpartner processors 132 a-132 d. In one embodiment, during apre-authorization phase, a home processor 112 a attempts to establishsecure connections with each of the partner processors 132 a-132 d inorder to determine whether a secure connection can be established withthe partner processors. A secure connection may be established betweenthe home processor 112 a and a partner processor 132 a by exchangingsignaling between them. For example, during an initial attempt tocommunicate with each other, the home processor 112 a and partnerprocessor 132 a may exchange security credentials (e.g., securitycertificates) to verify identities of the processors. The home processor112 a can further check whether data can be reliably exchanged with thepartner processor 132 a. The home processor 112 a pre-authorizes thosepartner processors 132 a-132 d that can successfully establish a secureand stable connection with the home processor 112 a. The pre-authorizedpartner processors 132 a-132 d are then added to the partner processorslist 114. The pre-authorization of partner processors 132 a-132 d allowsdata exchange to occur seamlessly between the home processor 112 a andeach of pre-authorized partner processors 132 a-132 d when a dataprocessing transaction is being processed by the processors. Forexample, since a secure connection was already established between thehome processor 112 a and a pre-authorized partner processor 132 duringthe pre-authorization phase, the processors can skip the initial phaseof connection establishment and start exchanging data without delay,thus saving processing resources, network bandwidth and time.

In another example, the pre-determined association may include one ormore partner processors 132 a-132 d pre-authorized for communicationwith the home computing infrastructure 110 or one or more homeprocessors 112 a-112 d. A home processor 112 a may pre-authorize apartner processor 132 a for communication with the home processor 112 a,when the partner processor 132 satisfies a minimum threshold securitystandard. For example, home processor 112 a may pre-authorize a partnerprocessor 132 a for communication with the home processor 112 a, whenthe partner processor 132 a implements one or more security measuresapproved by the home processor 112 a. The approved one or more securitymeasures may include, but are not limited to, anti-virus software,anti-spyware software, firewalls to block unauthorized access to thepartner computing infrastructure 130, intrusion prevention systems,virtual private networks to provide safe and secure remote access to thepartner computing infrastructure 130 and other measures to restrictphysical access to partner processor 132 a. By setting a thresholdsecurity standard for communicating with a home processors 112 a andallowing those partner processors 132 a-132 d that satisfy the thresholdsecurity standard, home processor 112 a may save the home computinginfrastructure 110 from malicious network attacks and help maintain ahigh degree of data security.

In another example, a home processor 112 a may pre-authorize a partnerprocessor that uses one or more communication protocols approved by thehome processor 112 a. Using approved communication protocols may allowdata transfer to occur seamlessly between home processors 112 a-112 dand partner processors 132 a-132 d without need of an intermediaryservice. In another example, pre-negotiated agreements (e.g., servicelevel agreements) may exist between home processors 112 a-112 d andpartner processors 132 a-132 d that define protocols and other rulesassociated with data transfer between home processors 112 a-112 d andpartner processors 132 a-132 d. An association between a home processor112 a-112 d and a partner processor 132 a-132 d may allow a partnerprocessor 132 a-132 d to provide one or more data processing servicesotherwise provided by a home processor 112 a-112 d to users within theforeign region, for example, without using an intermediary service andat reasonable costs to the user. Thus, one or more of the partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d may be configured to provide access to one ormore services provided by one or more home processors 112 a-112 d tousers located within the foreign region. In one embodiment, the partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d may be configured to convert data received fromthe home processors 112 a-112 d based on local regulations and protocolsused by the partner processors 132 a-132 d.

Thus, a user having a user account 116 with a home processor 112 a-112 dand physically located within a foreign region outside the home region,may use a partner processor 132 a-132 d to access one or more servicesprovided by the home processor 112 a-112 d based on the user account116. To provide access to the data processing services from the homeprocessor 112 a-112 d, the partner processor 132 a-132 d may obtain atleast a portion of the user data 118 related to user account 116 of theuser (e.g., based on association with the home processor) and providethe data processing services based on the obtained user data 118.

In one example use case, the home computing infrastructure 110 may beimplemented by a software hosting service provider (home serviceprovider) that provides access to one or more software to users havinguser accounts with the home service provider and located within a homeregion. The partner computing infrastructure 130 may be implemented byanother similar software service provider (partner service provider)that provides access to the same or similar one or more software tosubscribed users within a foreign region outside the home region. Thepartner service provider may be partnered with the home service providerby way of a pre-determined association between the service providers asdescribed above. Thus, a user registered with the home service providerbut located within the foreign region, may access a software hosted at ahome processor of the home service provider using a partner processor ofthe partner service provider. To provide the user access to a softwarehosted by a home processor of the home service provider, a partnerprocessor of the partner service provider may exchange data with thehome processor based on a pre-configured association with the homeprocessor.

In another example use case, the home computing infrastructure 110 maybe implemented by a cloud data service provider (home service provider)that stores data and provides access to the stored data to users havinguser accounts with the home service provider and located within a homeregion. The partner computing infrastructure may be implemented byanother similar cloud data service provider (partner service provider)that provides access to data hosted by the partner service provider tosubscribed users within a foreign region outside the home region. Thepartner service provider may be partnered with the home service providerby way of a pre-determined association between the service providers asdescribed above. The pre-determined associated may allow a partnerprocessor of the partner service provider to receive data from a homeprocessor of the home service provider. Thus, a user registered with thehome service provider but located within the foreign region, may accessdata hosted by a home processor of the home service provider using apartner processor of the partner service provider. The foreign serviceprovider may convert data received from a home processor to a desiredformat (e.g., based on local regulations and protocols) beforepresenting the data to the user on a user device 150.

It may be noted that, while FIG. 1 illustrates a single home computinginfrastructure 110 and a single foreign computing infrastructure 130 forease of illustration and explanation, data processing system 100 mayinclude any number of home and foreign computing infrastructures,wherein each computing infrastructure provides services to users locatedwithin different regions or even overlapping regions.

User device 150 may be configured to facilitate and manage dataprocessing transactions with home processors 112 a-112 d as well aspartner processors 132 a-132 d, as described below. A user device 150may include any device that includes a communication interface forcommunicating with home processors 112 a-112 d and partner processors132 a-132 d. A user device 150 may additionally include a user interfaceincluding for example, a display and a user input means (e.g., keypad,touch screen etc.), to allow user interaction with the user device 150.For example, the user device 150 may include, but is not limited to, oneor more of a wearable computing device (e.g., a smart watch), a portablecomputing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer etc.), a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer and the like. User device 150 maycommunicate with each of the home processors 112 a-112 d as well aspartner processors 132 a-132 d over the network 170 using any knownwired or wireless technology. The user device 150 may be registered asan authorized device with the home computing infrastructure 110 or oneor more home processors 112 a-112 d. The registration allows user device150 to perform certain transactions with the home processors 112 a-112d.

User device 150 may be capable of and configured to detect ageo-location of the user device 150, and thus, a geo-location of theuser wearing the user device 150, carrying the user device 150 orotherwise in the vicinity of the user device 150. User device 150 may beconfigured to detect that a user is located in a foreign region that isoutside a home region of the user. As described above, the home regionof the user may be a designated region within which the home computinginfrastructure 110 provides data processing services to users. Userdevice 150 may be configured to determine a geo-location of the userdevice 150 according to a pre-determined schedule (e.g., periodically).When user device 150 detects that the geo-location of the user device150 is within a designated foreign region that is outside the homeregion of the user, the user device 150 determines that the user islocated within the foreign region.

As described above, the home computing infrastructure 110 may notprovide data processing services outside the home region of the user.User device 150 may be configured to search a partner processors list114 and determine one or more partner processors (e.g., 132 a-132 d) inthe vicinity of the user device's geo-location within the foreignregion. The partner processors list 114 may include information relatingto partner processors 132 a-132 d associated with a plurality of partnerprocessing infrastructures 130 in several foreign regions outside thehome region. As described above, each of the partner processors 132a-132 d may provide data processing services to users located within theforeign region. In one embodiment, the partner processors list 114 maybe stored at one or more of the home processors (e.g., home processor112 a). In this case, in response to detecting that the user device 150is located within the foreign region, user device 150 automaticallytransmits (e.g., using machine to machine (M2M) communication) a query152 to the home processor 112 a, wherein the query 152 includes ageo-location of the user device 150 as determined by the user device150. The home processor 112 a receives the query 152 and searches thepartner processors list 114 based on the geo-location of the user device150, for one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d in the vicinity ofthe user device 150. The home processor 112 a may transmit informationrelating to the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d back to theuser device 150. The information relating to the partner processors 132a-132 d may include a geo-location and/or local address within theforeign of each of the partner processors 132 a-132 d.

In an alternative embodiment, a copy of the partner processors list 114may be stored in a local memory of the user device 150. In this case,user device 150 may be configured to search the partner processors list114 based on the current geo-location of the user device 150 anddetermine one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d in the vicinity ofthe user device 150 as a result of the search.

Upon obtaining information relating to the one or more partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d as a result of searching the partner processorslist 114 (at the home processor 112 a or user device 150), user device150 may be configured to present a list of the one or more partnerprocessers 132 a-132 d on a display of the user device 150. The user mayselect one of the partner processors (e.g., partner processor 132 a)from the list using an input interface of the user device 150.

Using user device 150, the user may request a data processingtransaction to be processed by the selected partner processor 132 abased on the user account 116 with the home processor 112 a. Forexample, when home processor 112 a belongs to a cloud data serviceprovider hosting data (e.g., stored as part of user data 118) for theuser having the user account 116, the data processing transactionrequested by the user may include a request for at least a portion ofthe user data 118 stored for the user at home processor 112 a. Torequest the data processing transaction, the user may use the userinterface of the user device 150 to provide details of the requesteddata processing transaction including, but not limited to, a type oftransaction, requested data and a value related to the transaction.Staying with the cloud data service provider example, the user mayspecify what part of the user data 118 is requested from the homeprocessor 112 a.

In response to receiving information relating to the requested dataprocessing transaction from the user, the user device 150 may beconfigured to initiate transfer of at least a portion of user data 118relating to the user account 116 from the home processor 112 a topartner processor 132 a. For example, user device 150 may send a requestto home processor 112 a to transmit user data 118 or a portion thereofrequired for processing the data processing transaction at the partnerprocessor 132 a. The request to the home processor 112 a for user data118 may include information relating to requested data processingtransaction including, but not limited to, a type of transaction,requested data and a value related to the transaction. In response toreceiving the request from the user device 150, home processor 112 a maytransmit the user data 118 or portion thereof to the partner processor132 a. The partner processor 132 a may be configured to process the dataprocessing transaction based on the user data 118 received from the homeprocessor 112 a. Continuing with the cloud data service providerexample, processing the data processing transaction at the partnerprocessor 132 may include one or more of formatting the received userdata 118, converting the user data 118 to a desired format and renderingthe data for presenting to the user on a display, for example, of userdevice 150.

The user device 150 may be configured to authenticate the dataprocessing transaction requested by the user for processing at thepartner processor 132 a. To authenticate the data processingtransaction, the user device 150 may be configured to verify an identifyof the user requesting the data processing transaction using the userdevice 150, so that an authorized user can initiate the transaction. Forexample, home processor 112 a and/or partner processor 132 a may allowthe owner of the user account 116 alone to initiate the data processingtransaction. In this case, user device 150 verifies that the userrequesting the transaction using the user device 150 is the owner of theuser account 116. To accomplish the verifying, user device 150 may beconfigured to prompt the user to provide a unique personal identifier ofthe user. In response, user device 150 may receive the unique personalidentifier of the user. The unique personal identifier of the user mayinclude, but is not limited to, a personal identification number (PIN)assigned to the user by the home processor 112 a, a government ID cardnumber, driving license number, user biometrics data (e.g.,fingerprints, face recognition pattern, etc.), voice pattern andcombinations thereof. The unique personal identifier of the user may bestored locally at the user device 150. In this case, the user device 150may compare the received personal identifier to the stored personalidentifier of the user. User device 150 may determine that thetransaction is successfully authenticated in response to a successfulmatch between the received and stored personal identifiers. In analternative embodiment, home processor 112 a may store one or morepre-verified unique personal identifiers for the user as part of theuser data 118. In this case, user device 150 may transmit anauthentication request 154 to home processor 112 a to authenticate therequested transaction, wherein the authentication request 154 includesthe personal identifier obtained by the user device 150 from the userrequesting the transaction. Upon receiving the authentication request154, home processor 112 a compares the personal identifier received inthe authentication request 154 to a respective personal identifier ofthe user stored at the home processor 112 a. If the personal identifiersmatch, home processor 112 a determines that the transaction isauthenticated and transmits an indication of successful authenticationto the user device 150 and/or partner processor 132 a.

In some cases, user device 150 may be configured to requestpre-authorization of the data processing transaction from the homeprocessor 112 a to save the partner processor 132 a from requestingnecessary authorizations while processing the data processingtransaction, which may introduce additional delays and inefficiencies inthe processing. Once the user selects the partner processor 132 a andprovides information relating to the requested data processingtransaction, user device 150 may transmit a request for pre-authorizingthe data processing transaction to the home processor 112 a. The requestfor pre-authorizing may include, but is not limited to, informationrelated to a type of the transaction and a value related to thetransaction. In one embodiment, to determine whether the data processingtransaction can be authorized, home processor 112 a checks whether auser credit associated with the user account 116 is same as or higherthan the value related to the transaction (as received in the requestfor pre-authorizing). Home processor 112 a may be configured toauthorize the data processing transaction when the user creditassociated with the user account 116 is same as or higher than the valuerelated to the transaction. Home processor 112 a is configured totransmit an indication to the partner processor 132 a and/or user device150 indicating that the data processing transaction has been authorized.

For example, in a banking use case, home computing infrastructure 110may be representative of a computing infrastructure belonging to a homebank that provides banking related services to users within a homecountry. The user may have a bank account at the home bank, wherein thebank account holds a certain amount of funds. User account 116 may berepresentative of the user's bank account and user data 118 may includeinformation relating to the amount of funds held in the user's bankaccount. When the user travels outside the home country to a foreigncountry, the user may need to access to funds from his/her bank accountat the home bank to cover expenses within the foreign country. However,the home bank may not have a retail presence within the foreign country.However, the home bank may have a partner bank in the foreign countryusing which the user may access funds in the home bank account. Thepartner computing infrastructure 130 may be representative of acomputing infrastructure belonging to the partner bank. The user device150 of the user may detect that the user is in the foreign country andprovide recommendations to the user of one or more partner processors132 a-132 d belonging to the partner bank. Each partner processor 132a-132 d may be representative of a retail baking location of the partnerbank. The user may select one of the partner processors (e.g., partnerprocessor 132 a) and may further specify details of a data processingtransaction to be processed by the selected partner bank. In this case,the data processing transaction may include a funds withdrawaltransaction. User device 150 may authenticate the requested transactionby verifying the identity of the user and additionally requestpre-authorization of the transaction, wherein the request may include avalue of the funds withdrawal. Home processor 112 a may authorize thetransaction if the user's bank account has sufficient funds to cover thefunds withdrawal at the partner bank. Further, to support the fundswithdrawal transaction at the partner processor 132 a, home processor112 a may further transfer data related to the user's bank account tothe partner processor 132 a. The data transferred to the partnerprocessor may include information relating to the amount of funds heldin the user's bank account and/or transfer of required funds from theuser's bank account to the partner bank. Once the funds withdrawaltransaction has been authenticated, pre-authorized and required data hasbeen transferred to the partner processor 132 a, the user device 150 mayinitiate the funds withdrawal at the partner bank location.Pre-authorization, pre-authentication and pre-transfer of data requiredto process the transaction before the user device 150 actually initiatesthe withdrawal transaction at the partner bank location allows thetransaction to be processed at the partner bank quickly and without anydelays that can be associated with authorizing the transaction,authenticating the user's identity and requesting data from the homeprocessor 112 a.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method 200 for managing a dataprocessing transaction, in accordance with certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Method 200 may be performed by the user device 150as shown in FIG. 1 and described above.

At step 202, user device 150 detects that the user is in a foreignregion outside a home region of the user. The user may be registeredwith a home computing infrastructure 110 or one or more home processors112 a-112 d of the home computing infrastructure 110. For example, theuser may have a user account 116 with the home processor 112 a thatallows the user to use certain data processing services provided by thehome processor 112 a depending on the nature of the user account 116.

In one or more embodiments, the home region of the user may berepresentative of a city, state, country, or any other designated regionwithin which the user generally maintains a place of residence andspends most days in a calendar year. On the other hand, the foreignregion may be representative of a city, state, country or any otherdesignated region that is outside of the home region of the user.

Home processors 112 a of the home computing infrastructure 110 may beconfigured to provide one or more data processing services to the userwithin the home region. The users may access the one or more dataprocessing services provided by the home processor 112 a using the userdevice 150. The user device 150 may be registered as an authorizeddevice with the home computing infrastructure 110 or the home processor112 a of the home computing infrastructure 110. The registration allowsuser device 150 to perform certain transactions with the home processor112 a. User device 150 may be configured to facilitate and manage dataprocessing transactions with the home processor 112 a, as describedbelow. The user device 150 may include any device that includes acommunication interface for communicating with the home processor 112 a.A user device 150 may additionally include a user interface includingfor example, a display and a user input means (e.g., keypad, touchscreen etc.), to allow user interaction with the user device 150. Forexample, the user device 150 may include, but is not limited to, one ormore of a wearable computing device (e.g., a smart watch), a portablecomputing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer etc.), a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer and the like.

The user account 116 may be associated with user data 118. User data 118may include, but is not limited to, personal information related to theuser (e.g., user name, social security number), user identification dataincluding ID card number, driving license number, user biometrics data(e.g., fingerprints, face recognition pattern etc.), and informationrelated to the user account 116 including account number and level ofaccess. User data 118 may further include a user credit value associatedwith the user account 116. The user credit value may represent a creditbalance associated with the user account 116. The user may buy usercredits and may use the credit balance associated the user account 116to buy data processing services provided by a home processor (112 a-112d).

User device 150 may be capable of and configured to detect ageo-location of the user device 150, and thus, a geo-location of theuser wearing the user device 150, carrying the user device 150 orotherwise in the vicinity of the user device 150. User device 150 maydetermine a geo-location of the user device 150 according to apre-determined schedule (e.g., periodically). When user device 150detects that the geo-location of the user device 150 is within adesignated foreign region that is outside the home region of the user,the user device 150 determines that the user is located within theforeign region.

At step 204, user device 150 obtains information related to one or morepartner processors (e.g., partner processors 132 a-132 d) in thevicinity of the user device 150 within the foreign region. Each of thepartner processors 132 a-132 d may belong to a partner computinginfrastructure 130 as shown in FIG. 1 . Like the home processor 112 a,the each of the partner processors 132 a-132 d may be configured toprovide one or more data processing services to users within the foreignregion. The user may access the one or more data processing servicesprovided by the partner processors 132 a-132 d using the user device150.

Each of the partner processor 132 a-132 d may have a pre-determinedassociation with the home processor 112 a. For example, thepre-determined association between a home processor 112 a and a partnerprocessor 132 a may include a pre-authorized secure connection that canbe established or is already established between the home processor 112a and the partner processor 132 a. In another example, thepre-determined association may include one or more partner processors132 a-132 d pre-authorized for communication with the home computinginfrastructure 110 or one or more home processors 112 a-112 d. A homeprocessor 112 a may pre-authorize a partner processor 132 a forcommunication with the home processor 112 a, when the partner processor132 satisfies a minimum threshold security standard. In another example,a home processor 112 a may pre-authorize a partner processor that usesone or more communication protocols approved by the home processor 112a. Using approved communication protocols may allow data transfer tooccur seamlessly between the home processor 112 a and a partnerprocessor (e.g., 132 a) without need of an intermediary service. Inanother example, pre-negotiated agreements (e.g., service levelagreements) may exist between home processor 112 a and each of thepartner processors 132 a-132 d that define protocols and other rulesassociated with data transfer between the home processor 112 a and thepartner processors 132 a-132 d. An association between the homeprocessor 112 a and a partner processor 132 a may allow the partnerprocessor 132 a to provide one or more data processing servicesotherwise provided by the home processor 112 a to the user within theforeign region, for example, without using an intermediary service andat reasonable costs to the user. Thus, the partner processor 132 a maybe configured to provide access to one or more services provided by thehome processor 112 a to the user located within the foreign region. Inone embodiment, a partner processor 132 a may be configured to convertdata received from the home processor 112 a based on local regulationsand protocols used by the partner processor 132 a.

Thus, a user having the user account 116 with the home processor 112 aand physically located within the foreign region outside the homeregion, may use one of the partner processor 132 a-132 d to access oneor more services provided by the home processor 112 a based on the useraccount 116. To provide access to the data processing services from thehome processor 112 a, a partner processor 132 a may obtain at least aportion of the user data 118 related to user account 116 of the user(e.g., based on association with the home processor 112 a) and providethe data processing services based on the obtained user data 118.

User device 150 may be configured to search a partner processors list114 and determine the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d in thevicinity of the user device's geo-location within the foreign region.The partner processors list 114 may include information relating topartner processors 132 a-132 d associated with a plurality of partnerprocessing infrastructures 130 in several foreign regions outside thehome region. As described above, each of the partner processors 132a-132 d may provide data processing services to users located within theforeign region. In one embodiment, the partner processors list 114 maybe stored at the home processor 112 a. In this case, in response todetecting that the user device 150 is located within the foreign region,user device 150 automatically transmits (e.g., using machine to machine(M2M) communication) a query 152 to the home processor 112 a, whereinthe query 152 includes a geo-location of the user device 150 asdetermined by the user device 150. The home processor 112 a receives thequery 152 and searches the partner processors list 114 based on thegeo-location of the user device 150, for one or more partner processors132 a-132 d in the vicinity of the user device 150. The home processor112 a may transmit information relating to the one or more partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d back to the user device 150. The informationrelating to the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d may include ageo-location and/or local address within the foreign of the each of thepartner processors 132 a-132 d.

In an alternative embodiment, a copy of the partner processors list 114may be stored in a local memory of the user device 150. In this case,user device 150 may be configured to search the partner processors list114 based on the current geo-location of the user device 150 anddetermine the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d in the vicinityof the user device 150 as a result of the search.

At step 206, upon obtaining information relating to the one or morepartner processors 132 a-132 d as a result of searching the partnerprocessors list 114 (at the home processor 112 a or user device 150),user device 150 may present a list of the one or more partner processers132 a-132 d as recommended partner processors on a display of the userdevice 150. The user may select one of the partner processors (e.g.,partner processor 132 a) from the list using an input interface of theuser device 150.

At step 208, user device 150 receives a selection of a partner processor132 a selected by the user from the list of partner processors 132 a-132d recommended to the user.

At step 210, user device 150 receives a request for a data processingtransaction based on the user account 116 at the home processor 112 a.Using user device 150, the user may request the data processingtransaction to be processed by the selected partner processor 132 abased on the user account 116 the user has with the home processor 112a. For example, when home processor 112 a belongs to a cloud dataservice provider hosting data (e.g., stored as part of user data 118)for the user having the user account 116, the data processingtransaction requested by the user may include a request for at least aportion of the user data 118 stored for the user at home processor 112a. To request the data processing transaction, the user may use the userinterface of the user device 150 to provide details of the requesteddata processing transaction including, but not limited to, a type oftransaction, requested data and a value related to the transaction.

At step 212, user device 150 authenticates the data processingtransaction requested by the user. The user device 150 may be configuredto authenticate the data processing transaction requested by the userfor processing at the partner processor 132 a. To authenticate the dataprocessing transaction, the user device 150 may verify an identify ofthe user requesting the data processing transaction using the userdevice 150, so that an authorized user can initiate the transaction. Forexample, home processor 112 a and/or partner processor 132 a may allowthe owner of the user account 116 alone to initiate the data processingtransaction. In this case, user device 150 verifies that the userrequesting the transaction using the user device 150 is the owner of theuser account 116 at the home processor 112 a. To accomplish theverifying, user device 150 may be configured to prompt the user toprovide a unique personal identifier of the user. In response, userdevice 150 may receive the unique personal identifier of the userprovided by the user using a user interface of the user device 150. Theunique personal identifier of the user may include, but is not limitedto, a personal identification number (PIN) assigned to the user by thehome processor 112 a, a government ID card number, driving licensenumber, user biometrics data (e.g., fingerprints, face recognitionpattern, etc.), user voice pattern and combinations thereof. User device105 may have one or more pre-verified personal identifiers of the userstored locally at the user device 150. In this case, the user device 150may compare the received personal identifier to the stored pre-verifiedpersonal identifier of the user. User device 150 may determine that thetransaction is successfully authenticated in response to a successfulmatch between the received and stored personal identifiers. In analternative embodiment, home processor 112 a may store one or morepre-verified unique personal identifiers for the user as part of theuser data 118. In this case, user device 150 may transmit (e.g., usingM2M data transfer) an authentication request 154 to home processor 112 ato authenticate the requested transaction, wherein the authenticationrequest 154 includes the personal identifier obtained by the user device150 from the user requesting the transaction. Upon receiving theauthentication request 154, home processor 112 a compares the personalidentifier received in the authentication request 154 to a respectivepre-verified personal identifier of the user stored at the homeprocessor 112 a. If the personal identifiers match, home processor 112 adetermines that the transaction is authenticated and transmits anindication of successful authentication to the user device 150 and/orpartner processor 132 a.

At step 214, user device 150 determines whether the data processingtransaction requested by the user was successfully authenticated. Forexample, when the user device 150 verifies identity of the user locally,user device 150 determines successful authentication based on whetherthe user requesting the data processing transaction is the owner of useraccount 116 at home processor 112 a. User device 150 determines that thedata processing transaction is successfully authenticated when userdevice 150 successfully verifies the identity of the user as being theowner of user account 116. In an alternative embodiment, when the userdevice transmits the authentication request 154 to the home processor112 a, user device 150 determines that the data processing transactionis successfully authenticated when user device 150 receives anindication from the home processor 112 a that the identity of the userwas successfully verified as the owner of user account 116. When userdevice 150 is unable to successfully authenticate the data processingtransaction, method 200 proceeds to step 220 where user device 150discards the requested data processing transaction and generates anerror message. The error message may be communicated to the user usingthe user interface of the user device 150. For example, the errormessage may be displayed over a display of the user device 150.

When user device 150 successfully authenticates the data processingtransaction, method 200 proceeds to step 216. At step 216, user device150 initiates a transfer of data required to process the data processingtransaction from the home processor 112 a to partner processor 132 a.

In response to successfully authenticating the requested data processingtransaction from the user, the user device 150 may be configured toinitiate transfer of at least a portion of user data 118 relating to theuser account 116 from the home processor 112 a to partner processor 132a. For example, user device 150 may send a request to home processor 112a to transmit user data 118 or a portion thereof required for processingthe data processing transaction at the partner processor 132 a. Therequest to the home processor 112 a for user data 118 may includeinformation relating to requested data processing transaction including,but not limited to, a type of transaction, requested data and a valuerelated to the transaction. In response to receiving the request fromthe user device 150, home processor 112 a may transmit the user data 118or a portion thereof to the partner processor 132 a. The partnerprocessor 132 a may be configured to process the data processingtransaction based on the user data 118 received from the home processor112 a.

At step 218, user device 150 may initiate the requested data processingtransaction at the partner processor 132 a. For example, in responsesuccessfully authenticating the data processing transaction andoptionally receiving an indication from the home processor 112 a thatuser data 118 or a portion thereof has been successfully transferred topartner processor 132 a, user device trigger processing of the dataprocessing transaction at the partner processor, for example, using M2Mdata exchange with the partner processor 132 a.

In an optional embodiment, user device 150 may receive results ofprocessing the data processing transaction and may communicate theresults to the user via the user interface of the user device 150.

In some cases, user device 150 may be configured to requestpre-authorization of the data processing transaction from the homeprocessor 112 a to save the partner processor 132 a from requestingnecessary authorizations while processing the data processingtransaction, which may introduce additional delays and inefficiencies inprocessing the transaction at the partner processor 132 a. Once the userselects the partner processor 132 a provides information relating to therequested data processing transaction, and the requested transaction isauthenticated, user device 150 may transmit a request forpre-authorizing the data processing transaction to the home processor112 a. The request for pre-authorizing may include, but is not limitedto, information related to a type of the transaction and a value relatedto the transaction. In one embodiment, to determine whether the dataprocessing transaction can be authorized, home processor 112 a checkswhether a user credit associated with the user account 116 is same as orhigher than the value related to the transaction (as received in therequest for pre-authorizing). Home processor 112 a may be configured toauthorize the data processing transaction when the user creditassociated with the user account 116 is same as or higher than the valuerelated to the transaction. Home processor 112 a is configured totransmit an indication to the partner processor 132 a and/or user device150 indicating that the data processing transaction has been authorized.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method 300 for supporting a dataprocessing transaction at a partner processor, in accordance withcertain embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 300 may beperformed by any one of the home processors 112 a-112 d as shown in FIG.1 and described above.

At step 302, a home processor 112 a receives a query 152 from a userdevice 150 of a user requesting information relating to one or morepartner processors 132 a-132 d located within a foreign region outsideof a home region of the user. Home processor 112 a may be part of a homecomputing infrastructure 110 including a plurality of home processors112 a-112 d. The user may be registered with the home computinginfrastructure 110 or one or more home processors 112 a-112 d of thehome computing infrastructure 110. For example, the user may have a useraccount 116 with the home processor 112 a that allows the user to usecertain data processing services provided by the home processor 112 adepending on the nature of the user account 116.

In one or more embodiments, the home region of the user may berepresentative of a city, state, country, or any other designated regionwithin which the user generally maintains a place of residence andspends most days in a calendar year. On the other hand, the foreignregion may be representative of a city, state, country or any otherdesignated region that is outside of the home region of the user.

Home processor 112 a of the home computing infrastructure 110 may beconfigured to provide one or more data processing services to the userwithin the home region. The users may access the one or more dataprocessing services provided by the home processor 112 a using the userdevice 150. The user device 150 may be registered as an authorizeddevice with the home computing infrastructure 110 or the home processor112 a of the home computing infrastructure 110. The registration allowsuser device 150 to perform certain transactions with the home processor112 a. User device 150 may be configured to facilitate and manage dataprocessing transactions with the home processor 112 a, as describedbelow. The user device 150 may include any device that includes acommunication interface for communicating with the home processor 112 aor one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d. A user device 150 mayadditionally include a user interface including for example, a displayand a user input means (e.g., keypad, touch screen etc.), to allow userinteraction with the user device 150. For example, the user device 150may include, but is not limited to, one or more of a wearable computingdevice (e.g., a smart watch), a portable computing device (e.g.,smartphone, tablet computer etc.), a laptop computer, a desktop computerand the like.

Each of the partner processors 132 a-132 d may belong to a partnercomputing infrastructure 130 as shown in FIG. 1 . Like the homeprocessor 112 a, each of the partner processors 132 a-132 d may beconfigured to provide one or more data processing services to userswithin the foreign region. The user may access the one or more dataprocessing services provided by the partner processors 132 a-132 d usingthe user device 150.

Each of the partner processor 132 a-132 d may have a pre-determinedassociation with the home processor 112 a. For example, thepre-determined association between a home processor 112 a and a partnerprocessor 132 a may include a pre-authorized secure connection that canbe established or is already established between the home processor 112a and the partner processor 132 a. In another example, thepre-determined association may include one or more partner processors132 a-132 d pre-authorized for communication with the home computinginfrastructure 110 or one or more home processors 112 a-112 d. A homeprocessor 112 a may pre-authorize a partner processor 132 a forcommunication with the home processor 112 a, when the partner processor132 satisfies a minimum threshold security standard. In another example,a home processor 112 a may pre-authorize a partner processor that usesone or more communication protocols approved by the home processor 112a. Using approved communication protocols may allow data transfer tooccur seamlessly between the home processor 112 a and a partnerprocessor (e.g., 132 a) without need of an intermediary service. Inanother example, pre-negotiated agreements (e.g., service levelagreements) may exist between home processor 112 a and each of thepartner processors 132 a-132 d that define protocols and other rulesassociated with data transfer between the home processor 112 a and thepartner processors 132 a-132 d. An association between the homeprocessor 112 a and a partner processor 132 a may allow the partnerprocessor 132 a to provide one or more data processing servicesotherwise provided by the home processor 112 a to the user within theforeign region, for example, without using an intermediary service andat reasonable costs to the user. Thus, for example each partnerprocessor 132 a-132 d may be configured to provide access to one or moreservices provided by the home processor 112 a to the user located withinthe foreign region. In one embodiment, a partner processor 132 a may beconfigured to convert data received from the home processor 112 a basedon local regulations and protocols used by the partner processor 132 a.

Thus, a user having the user account 116 with the home processor 112 aand physically located within the foreign region outside the homeregion, may use one of the partner processor 132 a-132 d to access oneor more services provided by the home processor 112 a based on the useraccount 116. To provide access to the data processing services from thehome processor 112 a, a partner processor 132 a may obtain at least aportion of the user data 118 related to user account 116 of the user(e.g., based on association with the home processor 112 a) and providethe data processing services based on the obtained user data 118.

The user account 116 may be associated with user data 118. User data 118may include, but is not limited to, personal information related to theuser (e.g., user name, social security number), user identification dataincluding ID card number, driving license number, user biometrics data(e.g., fingerprints, face recognition pattern etc.), and informationrelated to the user account 116 including account number and level ofaccess. User data 118 may further include a user credit value associatedwith the user account 116. The user credit value may represent a creditbalance associated with the user account 116. The user may buy usercredits and may use the credit balance associated the user account 116to buy data processing services provided by the home processor 112 a.

User device 150 may be capable of and configured to detect ageo-location of the user device 150, and thus, a geo-location of theuser wearing the user device 150, carrying the user device 150 orotherwise in the vicinity of the user device 150. User device 150 maydetermine a geo-location of the user device 150 according to apre-determined schedule (e.g., periodically). When user device 150detects that the geo-location of the user device 150 is within adesignated foreign region that is outside the home region of the user,the user device 150 determines that the user is located within theforeign region.

User device 150 may be configured to search a partner processors list114 and determine the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d in thevicinity of the user device's geo-location within the foreign region.The partner processors list 114 may include information relating topartner processors 132 a-132 d associated with a plurality of partnerprocessing infrastructures 130 in several foreign regions outside thehome region. As described above, each of the partner processors 132a-132 d may provide data processing services to users located within theforeign region. In one embodiment, the partner processors list 114 maybe stored at the home processor 112 a. In this case, in response todetecting that the user device 150 is located within the foreign region,user device 150 automatically transmits (e.g., using machine to machine(M2M) communication) the query 152 to the home processor 112 a, whereinthe query 152 includes a geo-location of the user device 150 asdetermined by the user device 150.

At step 304, home processor 112 a receives the query 152 and searchesthe partner processors list 114 based on the geo-location of the userdevice 150 included the query, for one or more partner processors 132a-132 d in the vicinity of the user device 150.

At step 306, home processor 112 a transmits back to the user device 150information relating to the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 ddetermined as a result of searching the partner processors list 114. Theinformation relating to the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 dmay include a geo-location and/or local address within the foreign ofthe each of the partner processors 132 a-132 d. Upon receiving theinformation relating to the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 das a result of searching the partner processors list 114 at the homeprocessor 112 a, user device 150 may present a list of the one or morepartner processers 132 a-132 d as recommended partner processors on adisplay of the user device 150. The user may select one of the partnerprocessors (e.g., partner processor 132 a) from the list using an inputinterface of the user device 150.

As described above, using user device 150, the user may request a dataprocessing transaction to be processed by the selected partner processor132 a based on the user account 116 the user has with the home processor112 a. For example, when home processor 112 a belongs to a cloud dataservice provider hosting data (e.g., stored as part of user data 118)for the user having the user account 116, the data processingtransaction requested by the user may include a request for at least aportion of the user data 118 stored for the user at home processor 112a. To request the data processing transaction, the user may use the userinterface of the user device 150 to provide details of the requesteddata processing transaction including, but not limited to, a type oftransaction, requested data and a value related to the transaction.

At step 308, home processor 112 a receives a request to authenticate adata processing transaction at a selected partner processor 132 aselected from the one or more partner processors 132 a-132 d. Asdescribed above, user device 150 may be configured to authenticate thedata processing transaction requested by the user for processing at thepartner processor 132 a. To authenticate the data processingtransaction, an identity of the user requesting the data processingtransaction may need to be verified, so that an authorized user caninitiate the transaction. For example, home processor 112 a and/orpartner processor 132 a may allow the owner of the user account 116alone to initiate the data processing transaction. In this case, userdevice 150 may need to verify that the user requesting the transactionusing the user device 150 is the owner of the user account 116 at thehome processor 112 a. To accomplish the verifying, user device 150 maybe configured to prompt the user to provide a unique personal identifierof the user. In response, user device 150 may receive the uniquepersonal identifier of the user provided by the user using a userinterface of the user device 150. The unique personal identifier of theuser may include, but is not limited to, a personal identificationnumber (PIN) assigned to the user by the home processor 112 a, agovernment ID card number, driving license number, user biometrics data(e.g., fingerprints, face recognition pattern, etc.), user voice patternand combinations thereof. Home processor 112 a may store one or morepre-verified unique personal identifiers for the user as part of theuser data 118. In this case, user device 150 may transmit (e.g., usingM2M data transfer) an authentication request 154 to home processor 112 ato authenticate the requested transaction, wherein the authenticationrequest 154 includes the personal identifier obtained by the user device150 from the user requesting the transaction.

At step 310, home processor 112 a verifies an identity of the userrequesting the data processing transaction using the user device 150.For example, upon receiving the authentication request 154 from the userdevice 150, home processor 112 a compares the personal identifierreceived in the authentication request 154 to a respective pre-verifiedpersonal identifier of the user stored at the home processor 112 a. Homeprocessor 112 a may determine that the data processing transaction issuccessfully authenticated, if the personal identifier received in theauthentication request 154 matches with the respective pre-verifiedpersonal identifier. When the personal identifiers do not match, homeprocessor 112 a determines that the data processing transaction is notauthenticated.

At step 312, home processor checks whether the data processingtransaction requested by the user was successfully authenticated. Ifhome processor 112 a determines that the data processing transaction wasnot successfully authenticated, method 300 proceeds to step 320 wherehome processor generates and transmits an error message to the userdevice 150.

On the other hand, when home processor 112 a determines that the dataprocessing transaction was successfully authenticated, method 300proceeds to step 314, where home processor 112 a transmits an indicationof successful authentication to the user device 150 and/or partnerprocessor 132 a.

At step 316, home processor receives information relating to the dataprocessing transaction. In response to receiving an indication that thedata processing transaction has been successfully authenticated, theuser device 150 may be configured to initiate transfer of at least aportion of user data 118 relating to the user account 116 from the homeprocessor 112 a to partner processor 132 a. For example, user device 150may send a request to home processor 112 a to transmit user data 118 ora portion thereof required for processing the data processingtransaction at the partner processor 132 a. The request to the homeprocessor 112 a for user data 118 may include information relating torequested data processing transaction including, but not limited to, atype of transaction, requested data and a value related to thetransaction.

At step 318, in response to receiving the request from the user device150, home processor 112 a may transmit the user data 118 or a portionthereof to the partner processor 132 a. The partner processor 132 a maybe configured to process the data processing transaction based on theuser data 118 received from the home processor 112 a.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example schematic diagram of the user device 150illustrated in FIG. 1 , in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

User device 150 includes a processor 402, a memory 406, and a networkinterface 404. The User device 150 may be configured as shown in FIG. 4or in any other suitable configuration.

The processor 402 comprises one or more processors operably coupled tothe memory 406. The processor 402 is any electronic circuitry including,but not limited to, state machines, one or more central processing unit(CPU) chips, logic units, cores (e.g. a multi-core processor),field-programmable gate array (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), or digital signal processors (DSPs). The processor 402may be a programmable logic device, a microcontroller, a microprocessor,or any suitable combination of the preceding. The processor 402 iscommunicatively coupled to and in signal communication with the memory406. The one or more processors are configured to process data and maybe implemented in hardware or software. For example, the processor 402may be 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit or of any other suitablearchitecture. The processor 402 may include an arithmetic logic unit(ALU) for performing arithmetic and logic operations, processorregisters that supply operands to the ALU and store the results of ALUoperations, and a control unit that fetches instructions from memory andexecutes them by directing the coordinated operations of the ALU,registers and other components.

The one or more processors are configured to implement variousinstructions. For example, the one or more processors are configured toexecute instructions (e.g., user device instructions 408) to implementthe User device 150. In this way, processor 402 may be a special-purposecomputer designed to implement the functions disclosed herein. In one ormore embodiments, the User device 150 is implemented using logic units,FPGAs, ASICs, DSPs, or any other suitable hardware. The User device 150is configured to operate as described with reference to FIGS. 1-2 . Forexample, the encoder may be configured to perform at least a portion ofthe method 200 as described in FIG. 2 .

The memory 406 comprises one or more disks, tape drives, or solid-statedrives, and may be used as an over-flow data storage device, to storeprograms when such programs are selected for execution, and to storeinstructions and data that are read during program execution. The memory406 may be volatile or non-volatile and may comprise a read-only memory(ROM), random-access memory (RAM), ternary content-addressable memory(TCAM), dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), and static random-accessmemory (SRAM).

The memory 406 is operable to store query 152, partner processors list114, authentication request 154 and user device instructions 408. Theuser device instructions 408 may include any suitable set ofinstructions, logic, rules, or code operable to execute the User device150.

The network interface 404 is configured to enable wired and/or wirelesscommunications. The network interface 404 is configured to communicatedata between the User device 150 and other devices, systems, or domains(e.g. one or more home processors 112 a-112 d, one or more partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d etc.). For example, the network interface 404 maycomprise a Wi-Fi interface, a LAN interface, a WAN interface, a modem, aswitch, or a router. The processor 402 is configured to send and receivedata using the network interface 404. The network interface 404 may beconfigured to use any suitable type of communication protocol as wouldbe appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art.

It may be noted that each of the home processors 112 a-112 d and partnerprocessors 132 a-132 d may be implemented similar to the user device150. For example, the each of the home processors 112 a-112 d andpartner processors 132 a-132 d may include a processor and a memorystoring instructions to implement the respective functionality of thehome processor and partner processor when executed by the processor. Thememory of each home processor 112 a-112 d may store the partnerprocessors list 114, user account 116 and user data 118. The memory ofeach partner processor 132 a-132 d may also store a copy of the userdata 118.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted, or not implemented.

In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as coupled or directly coupled orcommunicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicatingthrough some interface, device, or intermediate component whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes,substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in theart and could be made without departing from the spirit and scopedisclosed herein.

To aid the Patent Office, and any readers of any patent issued on thisapplication in interpreting the claims appended hereto, applicants notethat they do not intend any of the appended claims to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112(f) as it exists on the date of filing hereof unless the words “meansfor” or “step for” are explicitly used in the particular claim.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A user device comprising: at least oneprocessor configured to: detect that a user is in a foreign regionoutside a home region of the user, wherein the user is registered with ahome processor located within the home region of the user; provide arecommendation to the user of one or more partner processors locatedwithin the foreign region, wherein each of the one or more partnerprocessors has a predetermined association with the home processor,wherein the predetermined association comprises a pre-authorized secureconnection that can be established between the home processor and eachof the one or more partner processors; receive a selection of a partnerprocessor from the one or more partner processors; authenticate a dataprocessing transaction at the selected partner processor by verifying anidentity of the user; and initiate the data processing transaction atthe selected partner processor after the authentication; and a memorycoupled to the at least one processor and configured to storeinformation relating to the one or more partner processors.
 2. The userdevice of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: initiate a transfer of at least a portion of datarelating to the registration of the user at the home processor from thehome processor to the selected partner processor.
 3. The user device ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:transmit a query to the home processor, wherein the query comprises ageo-location of the user device; and receiving information relating tothe one or more partner processors in response to transmitting thequery.
 4. The user device of claim 1, wherein: the memory stores a listof partner processors in a plurality of foreign regions outside the homeregion; and the at least one processor is further configured to: searchthe list of partner processors for the one or more partner processorslocated within the foreign region; and determine the one or more partnerprocessors located within the foreign region as a result of the search.5. The user device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: receive a unique personal identifier assigned tothe user; and verify the identity of the user based on the uniquepersonal identifier.
 6. The user device of claim 1, wherein the at leastone processor is further configured to: transmit a request to the homeprocessor for pre-authorizing the data processing transaction at theselected partner processor; and receive an indication that the dataprocessing transaction has been pre-authorized by the home processor. 7.The user device of claim 6, wherein: the request for pre-authorizing thedata processing transaction at the selected partner processor comprisesinformation relating to one or more of a type of the transaction and avalue related to the data processing transaction; and successfulpre-authorization by the home processor of the data processingtransaction indicates that the registration of the user at the homeprocessor is associated with a user credit that is higher than the valuerelated to the data processing transaction.
 8. The user device of claim1, wherein the user device comprises a wearable electronic device.
 9. Amethod for operating a user device of a user comprising: detecting thatthe user is in a foreign region outside a home region of the user,wherein the user is registered with a home processor located within thehome region of the user; providing a recommendation to the user of oneor more partner processors located within the foreign region, whereineach of the one or more partner processors has a predeterminedassociation with the home processor, wherein the predeterminedassociation comprises a pre-authorized secure connection that can beestablished between the home processor and each of the one or morepartner processors; receiving a selection of a partner processor fromthe one or more partner processors; authenticating a data processingtransaction at the selected partner processor by verifying an identityof the user; and initiating the data processing transaction at theselected partner processor after the authentication.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising: initiating a transfer of at least a portionof data relating to the registration of the user at the home processorfrom the home processor to the selected partner processor.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting a query to the homeprocessor, wherein the query comprises a geo-location of the userdevice; and receiving information relating to the one or more partnerprocessors in response to transmitting the query.
 12. The method ofclaim 9, wherein: the user device stores a list of partner processors ina plurality of foreign regions outside the home region; furthercomprising: searching the list of partner processors for the one or morepartner processors located within the foreign region; and determiningthe one or more partner processors located within the foreign region asa result of the search.
 13. The method of claim 9, whereinauthenticating the data processing transaction comprises: receiving aunique personal identifier assigned to the user; and verifying theidentity of the user based on the unique personal identifier.
 14. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting a request to thehome processor for pre-authorizing the data processing transaction atthe selected partner processor; and receiving an indication that thedata processing transaction has been pre-authorized by the homeprocessor.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein: the request forpre-authorizing the data processing transaction at the selected partnerprocessor comprises information relating to one or more of a type of thetransaction and a value related to the data processing transaction; andsuccessful pre-authorization by the home processor of the dataprocessing transaction indicates that the registration of the user atthe home processor is associated with a user credit that is higher thanthe value related to the data processing transaction.
 16. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the user device comprises a wearable electronic device.17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thatwhen executed by at least one processor causes the at least oneprocessor to: detect that the user is in a foreign region outside a homeregion of the user, wherein the user is registered with a home processorlocated within the home region of the user; provide a recommendation tothe user of one or more partner processors located within the foreignregion, wherein each of the one or more partner processors has apredetermined association with the home processor, wherein thepredetermined association comprises a pre-authorized secure connectionthat can be established between the home processor and each of the oneor more partner processors; receive a selection of a partner processorfrom the one or more partner processors; authenticate a data processingtransaction at the selected partner processor by verifying an identityof the user; and initiate the data processing transaction at theselected partner processor after the authentication.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein theinstructions further cause the at least one processor to a transfer ofat least a portion of data relating to the registration of the user atthe home processor from the home processor to the selected partnerprocessor.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17,wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:transmit a query to the home processor, wherein the query comprises ageo-location of the user device; and receive information relating to theone or more partner processors in response to transmitting the query.20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein:the user device stores a list of partner processors in a plurality offoreign regions outside the home region; the instructions further causethe at least one processor to: search the list of partner processors forthe one or more partner processors located within the foreign region;and determine the one or more partner processors located within theforeign region as a result of the search.